Under a new U.S. Department of Labor rule, their pay could jump to nearly $11 an hour. Seafood dealers say the increase will force them to lay off employees and, possibly, shut down operations.

The rule “must be reevaluated for its potential harmful impact on American jobs and small, family businesses,” Rep. Rob Wittman, R-Westmoreland, said in a statement issued jointly with U.S. Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va.

The rule can be traced to a 2010 U.S. District Court ruling that found wages paid to H-2B workers might undercut the pay of American workers with similar jobs. The lawsuit was brought to court by the Southern Poverty Law Center and immigrant rights groups.

Former Virginia governor Timothy Kaine, a Democrat running for U.S. Senate, wrote a letter to the Labor Department saying he is “concerned that this new wage rule will not have the positive effect of increasing wages for American workers and will instead result in the elimination of thousands of American jobs.”

A report issued earlier this month by the Virginia Institute of Marine Science found that H-2B workers contribute 2,672 domestic jobs to Virginia’s economy. It also found the H-2B workers’ economic output, which considers ancillary jobs such as truck drivers, money spent on food and other drivers, to be $176 million.

The rule had been scheduled to go in effect Saturday but a 60-day delay was announced Sept. 22 by the Labor Department. Wittman and Warner said they will continue to work toward a solution that satisfies the seafood industry and the Labor Department.